The Rule of Mirrors by Caragh M. O’Brien

The Rule of Mirrors by Caragh M. O'Brien
(Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads)Also by this author: The Keep of Ages
Published by Macmillan on February 16th 2016
Genres: Action & Adventure, Dystopian, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 432
Format: ARC

The fast-paced, psychologically thrilling sequel to The Vault of Dreamers follows Rosie after her consciousness has been split in two.The entire country was watching when Rosie Sinclair was expelled from Forge, the prestigious arts school that doubles as a reality TV show. But few know how Dean Berg was mining students' dreams in laboratories deep below the school. And no one, least of all the Dean himself, knows that when Rosie's dreams were seeded into the mind of another patient, Rosie's consciousness woke up in that body--a girl far from Forge, a girl with a completely different life from Rosie, a girl who is pregnant.Told from alternating points of view between Rosie as she makes sense of her new identity and the shattered subconscious that still exists in her old body, The Rule of Mirrors will keep readers on the edge of their seats and leave them hungry for more.

The Rule of Mirrors by Caragh M. O’Brien is book two of the series and I was so excited to get my hands on this one. This book picks up right after book one ends and O’Brien did a wonderful job of pulling me right back into the story. If you haven’t read The Vault of Dreamers, you may want to stop reading here because while I won’t spoil The Rule of Mirrors, I can’t swear I won’t give anything away from book one.

If you recall, Rosie’s consciousness was split into two at the end of the last book and now she isn’t fully herself. Thanks to a technician, Rosie wakes up in a sleep therapy and research clinic in Denver months later and she immediately begins to come up with a plan to escape. She knows she is missing pieces of herself and she is worried about her family and friends. I will say that Rosie’s portion of the story has more of the action. As she is escaping getting captured and handed back to the clinic, she is also trying to figure out what Berg has been up to and why and eventually crosses paths again with Burnham and Linus as well as Thea.

One of the twists here is that the other part of Rosie’s mind is now embedded into a young pregnant girl named Thea. This is the part of her mind that holds the memories of her family and Thea wakes up after being in a coma and is surrounded by people she has no memory of and I have to say, she handles it pretty well. The challenge for her is not only adapting to her old life with her parents but also trying to build relationships with people who think they know her. It isn’t easy for Thea because she is more attached to people she doesn’t know and because of that, she reaches out to those who have no idea who she is – like Rosie’s family and Linus. Eventually, she talks her baby’s father (Tom) into taking a roadtrip with her and they head out to see Thea’s family and tour Forge.

Linus is now hosting a pretty popular television show that finds lost children. I wish we would have gotten more information on what happened between now and the end of book one with him but as the story progresses, we learn a bit about what he has been up to and how much he and Rosie still care about each other. He is definitely still the person Rosie still has feelings for and that impacts the relationship Thea has with Tom.

I loved that we got to see Burnham again. I thought it was important to see what happened to him after the close of book one and I loved that he wasn’t letting his injury hold him back. His drive to push through and get better is something I love about his piece of the story. Well, that and the fact that no matter what Rosie feels about him, he will do whatever he can to help her.

Overall this was a great book two. A lot happens (obviously I’m not telling you everything) and I enjoyed how O’Brien essentially took one character, split her up into two, developed 2 stories and brought them both back together. I am excited to see where O’Brien takes the next book as she left things in such a way that I don’t know what to expect next. If you are looking for a Young Adult, Sci-Fi that has some solid characters, a great story, and the creep factor (think hacking your mind and taking your thoughts), definitely consider this series. I for sure am looking forward to the next book of this series.

Thank you to the publisher for the review copy!

About Caragh M. O'Brien

Caragh M. O'Brien is the author of the BIRTHMARKED trilogy and THE VAULT OF DREAMERS series, both from Macmillan/Roaring Brook Press. Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Ms. O'Brien was educated at Williams College and earned her MA from Johns Hopkins University. She recently resigned from teaching high school English in order to write young adult novels.

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